Job hunting advice?

[TurnedTheCorner]

Sorry if there is a relatively busy thread on this, nothing came up in a quick search.

I'd like this to be about do's and don'ts for job hunting, humorous job hunting or interview stories, pointers, resumé or LinkedIn tips, what have you.

Go!

[taco.vidal]

What field are you in? Retail, Law, Accounting, Welding?

What level are you at? First job, new grad, 25 years experience?

What is your location? Calgary? Edmonton? Ded Rear?

[TurnedTheCorner]

B.Comm Acct from UofC.

12 years experience in a variety of administrative/clerical/intermediate positions over that time. Not a lot of the experience is purely accounting related.

Calgary.

[Mazrim]

I don't have any particular advice other than don't try to be someone you aren't in an interview, but I love the thread tags.

[Bill Bumface]

Tweak your resume for every application based on what they are looking for. Focus on what's relevant, drop/minimize what's not.

Look on Company's websites. Lots of jobs never make it onto monster etc.

Do your best impression faking confidence in an interview if the job is a stretch for your abilities. People are patient with new hires. Remember that you can learn anything if you try hard enough at it. Convince them of this. If you have any shortfalls that come up during their questioning, try find ways (without forcing it) of demonstrating you can pick up new skills quickly.

Don't be a stiff. People want to hire someone they'll enjoy seeing every day. It's okay to smile and laugh in an interview.

[Deegee]

What kind of job are you trying to get?

[TurnedTheCorner]

Originally Posted by Deegee

What kind of job are you trying to get?

Haven't given that a thought yet. Probably something related to what I've been doing, hopefully with a little more seniority or room for advancement.

[bubbsy]

1. A good resume is MANDATORY. when i'm trying to fill a position on my team, a perusal of a resume within a minute or less tells me if i want to bring the person in to interview them or not. 2 pages or less, and i don't know why people put interests like "sports, golfing, knitting" on a professional interview (IT engineering resumes here)...

2. Your experience is key so on the resume, then in the interview, sell yourself by selling the interviewee on how valuable your experience is. More specifically, why the experience you have makes you an ideal fit for the position you are applying for. In fact, i would say the same for your resume/cover letter. customize the wordings to really illustrate how the experience you have makes you a good candidate for the specific role.

3. Once in an interview, work with point 2, and if you don't have the best fit experience, then charisma, confidence (without being cocky) and an excitement to learn and develop can sometimes outweigh what one might lack in experience for the role.

It's too bad your on the commerce side of things, we're definitely looking for telco/IT engineers/computer science guys in my dept (if you know someone who's in Toronto and fits the bill, PM me ).


Oh and good luck, job hunting is the worst job of all .

[Deegee]

Originally Posted by TurnedTheCorner

Haven't given that a thought yet. Probably something related to what I've been doing, hopefully with a little more seniority or room for advancement.

What exactly is that?

[TurnedTheCorner]

Oops, misread the question.

[bubbsy]

Originally Posted by TurnedTheCorner

If you mean why I haven't given it much though, I just came into the situation, I'm just decompressing for about a week or so before beginning the process in earnest.

do you have a resume updated?

I would highly recommend investing some high quality time on that, and getting some professional help if needed.

[TurnedTheCorner]

The resumé updating and professional help with that is already lined up. It just hasn't commenced yet, other than checking in with references to make sure they're still OK being contacted.

[KTrain]

Spend just as much time figuring out where you want to work as you do with what you want to do (a lot of time on both hopefully), otherwise you'll end up with "just another job". You can find out a lot of information about the department you'll be working in and who you'll be working with.

If you're looking for a career or long term position, where you apply is more important than what position you're applying for.

[goodyear]

Have you tried Robert Half?

I know my work goes through them among other head hunters for intermediate and senior positions.

[freedogger]

Originally Posted by goodyear

Have you tried Robert Half?

I know my work goes through them among other head hunters for intermediate and senior positions.

Problem is, Bob takes half.

[TurnedTheCorner]

Originally Posted by freedogger

Problem is, Bob takes half.

http://tinyurl.com/2d3ndht

[Pizza]

really?
nobody yet suggested going to Olympic Plaza, squat for a month, and have someone hand out a job to him?

[Buff]

Don't insult the person/people interviewing you. I once interviewed a guy who insulted me. We were asking questions about team work and team building, and we asked him to give an example of what he meant about being honest to team members and he said something like "Well, if I felt you had something ugly growing on your chin, I would tactfully tell you that you should consider removing it". Ok, we thought nothing of it. Then 10 minutes later he stops in mid sentence of another question and says "I just want to go back and say that I wasn't saying your goatee was bad when I talked about the ugly growth on your chin", as he stumbled along.

He didn't get the job for Computer Technician. I saw him 5 months later as a janitor at a gym where I play ball hockey.

[WhiteTiger]

Have a good looking resume. When I was an assistant manager at a smaller drug store, a fellow came in and asked for a spot interview. I took his resume, and realized that it was hand written and fit on a single piece of lined paper he'd torn out of a spiral notebook. The interview didn't last very long. I did, however, give him some pointers on resume making.

[WilsonFourTwo]

My suggestion is to focus primarily on Alberta's Top 50 Employers. Even if the competition is a little tougher (doubt it), you have a good idea what you're walking into.

Having recently completed a job search (while still employed), here are some tips that I have gathered/been given.

1. Keep the resume clean and simple, minimize/eliminate jargon wherever appropriate. Don't use 50 words when 10 will do.

2. Tweak your resume as needed, but every application should have a custom cover letter that specifically addresses how your skills match what they're looking for.

3. Honesty counts. I still can't believe that people lie on their resume/applications. Lying usually results in unemployment and having to explain why your stay was so short.

4. The Internet matters. When I've hired in the past (or even when I get an interviewer's name) Google, Facebook, and LinkedIn checks took place. You KNOW this will happen - use it to your benefit.

5. The Internet matters, even more. Get ready to fill out A LOT of applications online - all of which will be completely different and will all be horrifically time consuming.

6. Shamelessly use your network. You have friends, work-friends, and coworkers. They all (hopefully) like you and will (hopefully) connect you with others. A $7.00 lunch at Edo may lead to a tip on your dream job.


Final thought.....GOOD LUCK!


PS - FANTASTIC Tags!